Nora McClaren’s niece, Mary Coats, just recently told this little tidbit of a story about Aunt Nora, and I think it worth repeating.

Margie and Maggie, being a few years older than Mary, would sometimes as youngsters, try to get away from Mary to do their own thing without her tagging along. Mary would tell her Aunt Nora that the girls would not let her play with them and since Mary was Nora’s “pet”; Nora would punish Margie. In those days it might be with a switch, or anything within reach.

The house that the McClarens lived in had an open center hall the length of the house with bedrooms on one side and the kitchen on the other.

Nora had prepared dinner for the family one evening, and left a plate of food in the oven for her husband, knowing he would be getting home late from work that day.

Nora and the children were in the bedroom when they became aware of an unexpected noise coming from the kitchen and Nora knew it wasn’t her husband.

She loaded the shotgun and had one of the boys accompany her as they entered the kitchen to find a stranger taking the plate from the oven.

Needless to say, he put the plate down and got the heck out of there. Mary said she had no doubt whatsoever that had the man resisted, Nora would have shot him dead, and I believe her.